That's the view from Durham Region, where real estate agent Shawn Lackie sees sellers who are deluded about the current real estate mood in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding towns. They're pushing for lofty sale prices that are no longer realistic.

“You do bring a lot more people into the equation,” said Doug Porter, chief economist with Bank of Montreal, about prices dropping below the $1 million threshold. It is worth noting the average sale price of a home in the City of Toronto was $1,200,313 over the first two weeks of this month, up 3.8 per cent from a year ago and still well above the threshold for getting mortgage insurance in Canada.

So why are so many midrise projects greeted with howls of outrage by disapproving locals and/or unimpressed planners? Each one is treated as if it were an affront to civic good taste and municipal well-being. Getting the go-ahead for something as benign as a six-storey condo can be as arduous and expensive as a 60-storey tower.

This week, Hurricane Harvey offered another little lesson in market forces. It's a lesson that helps us think about Canadian real estate. Market theory tells us that people who wanted to protect their property from the hurricanes and floods that plague the Gulf Coast should have had insurance

But what if there were a way to see gentrification long before the coffee shops, condos and Whole Foods appear? What if city planners and neighborhoods had an early warning system that could sniff out the changes just as they begin? In that way, cities might prepare for the coming changes — securing a diverse range of housing options before land and rent prices shoot through the roof.

For decades, the Rust Belt was synonymous with deindustrialization and economic decline. Images of shuttered factories and abandoned neighborhoods have been dubbed “ruin porn.” As factories moved to the suburbs, the Sunbelt, or off-shore, jobs and people followed. Those who could, moved away. Neighborhoods and entire cities lost their economic function and hollowed out.

The region has roughly 60% of the world's millennials like himself, young adults between the ages of 19 and 35 who are the fastest growing generation of consumers. However, only about 15% of Airbnb's four million global listings are based in Asia.

The region remains one of the poorest in Europe, with devastating rates of infant mortality, youth suicide and widespread mental ill health. Poor housing and homelessness compound stress, physical health problems and mental illness. Yet none of the £1bn secured by the DUP in return for propping up Theresa May’s Conservative government will fund social housing. The NIHE says there are already plans to deliver 425 additional social homes within north Belfast over the next three years.